Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks with prepositions where required and retell the text.

Housekeeping

A good housewife, as a rule, rises early ___ the morning. First ___ all she makes a fire ___ the stove and then begins to make coffee and get breakfast ready. ___ the time the breakfast is ready, her husband and children are ___ too.

Breakfast is over, but her work is not; it has only just begun. While the eldest daughter attends ___ the children, she tidies the rooms. She sweeps the floors, makes the beds, dusts the furniture, etc. When everything ___ the house is quite neat and ___ good order, she goes marketing and buys provisions ___ the day. After that she begins to prepare lunch. When she sits ___ to lunch ___ midday, she feels fairly tired, and yet the day holds some more fatigue ___ reserve ___ her. There is a dinner to be cooked, but as it happens to be washing-day, there is a bundle ___ clothes to be washed and dried. The ironing and mending is generally done ___ evenings. Now that the washing is done, there comes the dinner to be prepared. It must be ready ___ the time father comes ___home from his work ___ six o’clock.

While father smokes his pipe ___ dinner, she clears the table and washes ___ the dishes. And that is not all. ___ a short while the smaller children are to be washed and put ___ bed. It’s only late in the evening that she manages to sit ___ ___ the armchair, but not to rest. There are the socks and stockings to be darned and clothes to be mended. She takes ___ her workbox ___ her scissors, reels ___ cotton and silk thread, pins and needles, caps her middle finger ___ her thimble, and down she gets to mending the clothes, putting ___ a patch here and sewing ___ a rent there. The evening has far advanced ___ the night and everything is quiet ___ the house. Even father has long ago put ___ his evening newspaper and gone ___ bed, but mother is still ___ work – ___ first, she goes ___ bed last.

Speaking

Write instructions to leave with the removal men who are helping you to move house. Tell them where everything is at the moment and where you would like it in your new home. Warn them about any particularly important or fragile articles.

Keeping your room tidy

(essential vocabulary)

to be keen on neatness

spring cleaning

to clean the mess in one’s room

to turn out one’s room

to do one’s room/ to clean up

to put the things where they belong

to tidy up

to do the dishes/ to wash up

to make things tidy

to dust

to beat the dust out of smth

to beat (a carpet)

to mop (up)

to wash/ to launder

laundry

to do the laundry

to dry the laundry

to iron the laundry

to dry-clean

to polish the furniture

to sweep the floor

to vacuum-clean/ to hoover carpets

to air the room

It takes me ...... Minutes/ hours to do the room

everything is spick and span

to be in ship-shape order

to shine (like a new pin)

to be immaculately clean

“Cleanliness is next to godliness”

(F. Bacon)

Exercise 5

If you are busy cleaning your room you are sure to need some equipment. Think for a moment how some of these household gadgets and devices are important to us.

1. If you had to live without two of the following, which ones would you choose to leave behind?

   a washing machine a hoover (vacuum cleaner) a dryer

   a dishwasher (washing-up machine) a fridge a freezer

2. And which three of these?

an iron a mixer a toaster a liquidizer(-iser) a mincer

a sewing machine an electric kettle a coffee grinder a hairdryer

3. Which of these do you prefer to be electric? All of them or not?

a drill a saw a razor a toothbrush a typewriter

a screwdriver a sander a lawnmower a whisk curling tongs (or hair curlers/rollers)

Exercise 6

Arrange the following household contents under three headings:

1. Furniture

2. Household appliances

3. Soft furnishings

Bedding, beds, bookshelves, carpets, chairs, cooker, curtains, cushions, freezer, refrigerator, rugs, sideboard, tables, tablecloths, telephone, television, dishwasher, wardrobe, vacuum cleaner.

Exercise 7

Your hall, living room and bedroom are in a mess. Where would you put these things to tidy your rooms up :

an umbrella; books; a dressing-gown; cushions; a coat; flower pots; a bedspread; a doormat; slippers; a comb; a lot of knick-knacks; an alarm-clock; a bottle of scent; gloves; a telephone; an ashtray; a vase; a key; an eiderdown.